BVI 2008 « Aboard Dignity (Lagoon 420) Blog

Waterfalls, Sulphur and Provisioning – a day out with friends

by steve, on February 27th, 2009 (BVI 2008, Dominica, Sutton Hoo, Video)

Yesterday was our car hire day. Jo and George from Sutton Ho had agreed to go in with us so we had good company throughout the day.

We left the boat just before 8 and picked up Jo and George. We dinghied ashore to await the car hire chap who was supposed to drop of the car at the dock at 8am. I guess 8:20 is close enough – particularly island time. Contrary to expectations set we had to go into the office and do some paperwork which slowed us down a bit more. His printer wasn’t working so to prevent him having to hand write the forms I fixed it for him.

Soon we were off. Our first stop was Emerald Pool which we reached with just the one wrong turn. Emerald Pool is one of the national park locations and as with most, it is quite accessible and part of the tourist route. We arrived just after a coach load of cruise ship folks. Knowing that they would be rushed in and out we took our time and soon had the area to ourselves. It was about a 15 minute walk to the waterfalls / pool. The water was cool but very refreshing to dip into. The guides always tell visitors that dipping in these pools takes 10 years off you. Jo, who has been cruising for a few years, has heard this and done this a number of times so she’s pretty close to being reborn.

The path back to the car led us to a couple of view points one of which we could see out to the Atlantic Ocean.

Next we headed in the direction of Trafalgar Falls near Roseau. On the map it showed there were some sulphur springs nearby and on the internet I had found you could visit a number of them if you visited a place/resort called the Rainforest Shangri-La. We also figured we’d look for a lunch spot around there.

Again, it took only one wrong turn to find our way to the vicinity. We found the Rainforest Shangri-La first and decided to go in. The place was a little mountain retreat with a few bamboo huts, a yoga area, a massage hut and a number of hot tubs fed by water heated by geothermal activities. They offered tours of the grounds where we got to see a number of bubbling pools, steaming caves and sulphurous exhalations. We quite enjoyed this as we really had no expectations on this.

We found a delightful place to eat but unfortunately this required reservations. Nearer to the falls themselves we stopped off at another place which was almost as nice and had lunch.

Trafalgar Falls were quite impressive and had a surprise. There are actually two falls which meet shortly after their respective bases. There are no pools to swim in but the real surprise was a hot spring which ran through sevaral pools in which you could sit. Not having had a bath for over three months I was keen to dip myself in.

We did have the possibility lined up of a third set of falls but by then we didn’t have the time so we headed into Roseau for a big provisioning. In under two weeks we’ll be meeting our friends in Martinique. The strike is still on there and while we are hearing that food can be bought in the towns away from the capital we are taking no chances. Having the hire car was an execellent opportunity to buy in a lot of food that will keep. The freezer and cupboards are now pretty full. Now all we need to do is top off what we have in preparation for our friends visit.

Back at the boats and having dropped everything off we popped round to Sutton Ho for evening tipples before heading back to Dignity to have our dinner and fall asleep. All in all a good day made all the better for the company we had.

I’ll leave you with a video montage and the inevitable pictures.

Lulip

by steve, on February 25th, 2009 (BVI 2008, Dominica, Sutton Hoo)

Day 2 of the carnival wasn’t a great deal to write about. We went along to see things in Portsmouth around 3pm and found it much the same as before. We stayed in for the evening.

Today we went to customs to extend our stay and then took a walk around Ross University, an American Medical University. We had lunch at some small snack huts there. This evening we had George and Jo aboard for drinks. They were one of the couples we met on the island tour. They will join us tomorrow as we go to visit some falls in a hire car. Should be fun.

I’ve just got in from spying Comet Lulip in my binoculars. Lovely clear night and the heavens are shining. Lulip is at closest approach. You can see it as a smudge with the naked eye and can see a nucleus and a bit of a tail in the binoculars.

Off to Blighty

by steve, on September 5th, 2008 (BVI 2008)

The clock is counting down to our trip to the Uk this evening. We have a few last things to sort out before we go but this should be manageable. We’re meeting Ben and Sam before we leave. Ben will come with us to the airport and take the van back to look after for the two and a bit weeks we’re away.

We’ve already lined up a number of visits to family and friends and still have a few more to sort out. Helen has her Birthday on Sunday so we’ll have some family together for that. And we’ll have a good old British Curry. Mmmmmmm.

On the boat front we have finally ordered the head sail (a Code Zero) from Florida and a watermaker (we went for the Catalina 300) out of St Martin.

I’ve often read the blogs of folks in their pre cruise departure phase. One of the common themes is the list of things to do that never gets any shorter. You can now add us to the list of folks who have lists that don’t get shorter.

WFR Training Complete

by steve, on August 24th, 2008 (BVI 2008, Video)

The training is complete but it’s not yet over. Today, all we have left is our 100 question multiple choice exam to take as well as a practical test involving a mock patient. Last night we all spent time revising our materials before going out for a curry. After dinner we packed our rucksacks ready for our canyon hike which begins early tomorrow morning. Once it is all finished today we’ll be heading straight up to the canyon. We’ll spend tonight on the rim before heading down very early in the morning.

In the meantime, here is a video of our CPR training early in the course to the sounds of “Another One Bites the Dust”

First Video from February Trip

by steve, on March 3rd, 2008 (BVI 2008, Video)

I haven’t been able to organize photo / video media yet nor have we reviewed our blogs for missing items. However, here is one video that stands on it’s own. We filmed this while Helen and I were snorkeling off Loblolly Bay, Anegada.

Dignity Critique

by steve, on March 1st, 2008 (BVI 2008)

We’ve been asked by a few folks for a critique of the boat. So here I go with what we liked and what we didn’t. The context of this critique is our needs for our boat. Those with different requirements will have to take this into account. It’s personal. So before we get to my pros and cons I want to recap what we were looking for in a boat.

First and foremost, our boat will be our home. We wanted a boat we would be comfortable living in at anchor, on a mooring and occasionally in dock. Second, while we originally weren’t thinking about an ecological boat, the Lagoon 420 appealed to us in a very big way with it’s great potential for regeneration and platform for solar power. Third came performance. It doesn’t matter too much to us as when we finally move aboard, time will not be our problem. We’ll be in no rush. But to be fair, nor do we want a bus.

Continue reading Dignity Critique

Back Home

by steve, on February 24th, 2008 (BVI 2008)

We’re back home now after an uneventful journey home. Blogs will be brought up to date shortly. I also intend to review the blogs already made, fill in the gaps, add pics and make corrections. Watch out for changes.

Day 8 – Going Home

by steve, on February 24th, 2008 (BVI 2008)

No rush to get up this morning. Eventually we picked ourselves out of bed and picked off some of the remaining food. John and I took the dinghy round to The Caves to get some last minute wet time. The fish were abundant and we even bumped into Bert the Barracuda who is a pretty big guy and known to frequent the area.

As we arrived back at Dignity Bonnie and Brian showed up so we were happy to again show people around Dignity including opening up covers to show motors, electrics, etc.

We then set sail to cross the channel back to Nanny Cay where we docked at the fuel dock and then again at her resting place. The fun thing about docking in a marina is you always get an audience. When docking in our final berth we had the CatCo and another set of guest all watching. The guests made a point of letting us know they were watching just to add to the pressure – all part of the fun. No bumps fortunately.

We had lunch at the cafe in Nanny Cay and then showers in the hotel. Eventually it was time to leave which was sad. The taxi ride back to the airport follows the coast so you get to see the islands recently visited but now receding. We checked in quickly and had just enough time to visit Trellis Bay for 10 mins before boarding.

The flight home was uneventful. New Jersey was cold.

Upon arriving home we were presented with a few mysteries. Why was the pipe wrench in the kitchen? Why were the plants moved? Why was our older son’s Carmen Electra poster under our bed? Simple answer. We are now back to life on land.

Day 8 Google Earth Track

Day 7 – Norman Island – Part II

by steve, on February 23rd, 2008 (BVI 2008, Radio Flyer)

We all headed off to Pirates for dinner. Appetizers was a round of Painkillers. Do we sound like a stuck record? We had a perfect seat facing the bay which we put down to an early booking. The food was good and I seem to remember ordering another round of appetizers.

After dinner we went back to the boat to share a bottle of wine and stargaze. The sky was magnificent.

Anne and John were a little tired so they left Helen and I to head off to Willy T’s to join the crowd. Upon arrival we found Bonnie and Brian, the owners of Radio Flyer, sitting in the very same bar seats we found them in when we last went to Willy T’s. (Note – they have repeatedly since claimed they don’t go to Willy T’s that often). They’re a fascinating couple. They live half the time in Canada and half the time on their boat in the BVIs. He spent 22 years in the Canadian Mounties and since moved onto other projects. They spent many years in Costa Rica helping build a new hotel. Their story in Costa Rica is reminiscent of “Don’t Stop the Carnival” by Herman Wauk. Only on a bigger scale. He is now writing a book about the experience which I’m looking forward to reading. We spent most of the evening chatting with Brian and Bonnie and vowed to stay in touch.

Day 7 – Norman Island

by steve, on February 23rd, 2008 (BVI 2008)

I woke up this morning looking out of my window at the beach. I’m going to miss this.

We got up very slowly this morning. We didn’t set sail until 10am. I was keen to get over the channel as it looked like rain was coming in. We did indeed miss it and as we looked behind we saw the rain tip down where we were once just anchored.

Our first stop was The Indians where John and I snorkeled around the rocks. We took plenty of photos / videos including several of us swimming through a rock tunnel. In time I’ll be posting more of these pics and videos.

After The Indians we planned to head over to The Caves for some more snorkeling but on the way we changed our mind and decided to go and moor in The Bight, Norman Island as it looked like it was already filling up and this was where we were planning to spend the evening.

Lunch was a BBQ of the remaining burgers with Tuna & Cucumber sarnies. With a couple of beers each we all fell asleep. I woke first and decided to trim my nails. While sitting on the port transom the dinghy, which was tied to the starboard transom, decided to untie itself and float off. Of all the times this happened just at the time I was looking. It was therefore fairly simple for me to go inside, get the key, check my pockets and dive in and give chase. Having woken up and got wet I decided to use the this as an opportunity to flood and clear the dingy of the sand we collected when landing on Sandy Cay what seems a long time ago. This was my big adventure of the day.

Tonight we’re going to eat at Pirates in The Bight then head over to Willy T’s for dancing. More, perhaps, later.

Day 7 Google Earth Track

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